Management of a multi-application mobile carrier tree

ABSTRACT

Efficient utilization and management of integrated mobile base station carrier trees is provided herein. Such trees provide an organizational structure for allocating calls in a code division, tone division, time division and/or like mobile infrastructure. Calls can be allocated to portions of the carrier tree as a function of characteristic(s) associated with the call. Accordingly, like calls are grouped within the carrier tree with like calls. In addition, portions of the carrier tree can be re-allocated to different types of traffic to meet fluctuations in traffic demand. Further, calls can be re-packed from existing segments of the carrier tree to other segments to maintain calls having common characteristics in contiguous groups, and to maintain idle segments another contiguous group(s). Accordingly, the wireless carrier tree can be packed and managed more efficiently, providing greater throughput and reduced contention for resources.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The subject application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/026,721, entitled “MANAGEMENT OF A MULTI-APPLICATION MOBILECARRIER TREE,” and filed on Feb. 6, 2008, the entirety of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, a vast increase in public and private utilization ofmobile electronic communication has occurred. As use of mobilecommunication devices and mobile communications services increase, thedemand placed on mobile network components to provide remotecommunication services for such devices and subscribers increasescommensurately. To compound this problem, today's mobile devices (e.g.,mobile phones, personal digital assistants [PDAs], etc.) can be utilizedas full-service computing mechanisms. For example, many of the mostrecent and advanced mobile devices can be associated with wordprocessing software, web browsing software, electronic mail software,accounting software, and various other types of software. In general,applications heretofore available only by way of computing devicesand/or Internet protocol (IP) based network devices are now available onsuch mobile devices. This expansion in capability of mobile devices hasalso lead to advancements in processing capability of mobile networkresources. As an example, mobile base stations and control componentshave begun to process voice and data traffic concurrently on a singleprocessing architecture.

Rapid growth of the telecommunications industry has fueled a strongcompetition for market share in mobile-IP communication devices andcommunication service plans. Because of such competition, mobile networkproviders have created packet based data networks that can provide IPaccess to the Internet and other IP-based network resources andapplications (e.g., e-mail, web browsing, and so on). Accordingly, amobile handset, or a like device, can provide access to a richassortment of shared computing applications and data resources availablevia such networks. However, not all packet based data communicationsutilize a common data rate or common quality of service. On thecontrary, various service providers provide for a range of bandwidths ordata rates for IP-based subscriber traffic.

In addition to the foregoing, communication link quality and data ratereliability requirements can vary from application to application. Forinstance, web-browsing traffic is often provided as a best effortservice; available bandwidth is allocated to such traffic, but wherehigh traffic volume occurs less bandwidth is allocated to such traffic.In contrast, some applications, including streaming audio or video,voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and the like, perform best when aconstant data rate and low channel jitter is provided. Accordingly,service providers often provide highly reliable or guaranteed data ratesfor such applications.

Due to the various requirements of different applications, some mobileproviders maintain different wireless carriers for different types oftraffic. However, this can be inefficient in circumstances where callvolume as a function of application type is difficult to predict.Accordingly, other mobile service provides integrate wireless carriersto handle various applications concurrently. Thus, in such carriers,circuit-switched calls and packet-switched data calls, of varyingbandwidths, data rates, link quality, and so on, can be serviced by asingle carrier. Although such an arrangement can provide addedefficiency, additional management requirements can also arise.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects of the disclosed innovation. This summaryis not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identifykey/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude tothe more detailed description that is presented later.

The subject disclosure, in one or more aspects, provides for efficientutilization and management of integrated wireless carrier trees. Suchtrees provide an organizational structure for servicing various types ofmobile calls by way of a common wireless bandwidth associated with thecarrier tree. Calls can be allocated to portions of the carrier tree asa function of characteristic associated with the call. Accordingly, likecalls are grouped within the carrier tree with like calls. Such amechanism enables the wireless carrier tree to be packed moreefficiently, providing greater utilization of bandwidth on average.

According to some aspects, un-assigned segments of a carrier tree can bemaintained in a particular portion of the tree. For instance,un-assigned segments can be maintained between portions of the tree thatare dedicated to two different types of traffic. As a result, additionalcalls of either type of traffic can be allocated to an un-assignedblock(s) that is contiguous to blocks assigned to like traffic type. Bymaintaining contiguity of like types of traffic within a carrier tree,un-assigned segments of the tree are less likely to be fragmented,enabling efficient packing of the carrier tree.

In accordance with still other aspects, segments of a carrier tree canbe re-allocated from one traffic type to another to meet fluctuations incall demand. For instance, if a wireless carrier receives a large spikeof incoming voice calls, segments of a carrier tree assigned to datacalls can be re-allocated to voice calls. Once the increased volumesubsides, the re-allocated calls can be re-assigned to service datacalls, as suitable. Accordingly, management of a wireless carrier treeas a function of traffic type can be performed flexibly to meetscalability demands of incoming calls.

According to still other aspects, calls assigned to a wireless carriercan be dynamically re-packed within a carrier tree. For instance, wherecall fragmentation occurs as a result of call drops (e.g., various callsrandomly being ended), calls can be re-assigned to various segments tomaintain calls of a common traffic type in contiguous portions of thecarrier tree. Un-assigned segments can also be maintained in a singlecontiguous portion. Accordingly, by re-packing calls to maintain likecalls in contiguous portions of the carrier tree, a higher portion ofbandwidth of an integrated carrier tree, on average, can be utilized ata given point in time.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certainillustrative aspects of the disclosed innovation are described herein inconnection with the following description and the annexed drawings.These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various waysin which the principles disclosed herein can be employed and is intendedto include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages andnovel features will become apparent from the following detaileddescription when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an example system that providesefficient management of a wireless carrier tree according to someaspects.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an allocation component that candesignate portions of a wireless carrier tree to serve a predeterminedtype of traffic.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a segmented integrated wireless carriertree according to some aspects.

FIG. 4 depicts an example of an integrated wireless carrier tree packedas a function of traffic type according to further aspects.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a sample system that can identifyfragmented segments of a wireless carrier tree according to someaspects.

FIG. 6 depicts a block diagram of a sample system that can re-allocateportions of a wireless carrier tree to varying types of trafficaccording to further aspects.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a sample system that can re-pack awireless carrier tree according to one or more aspects.

FIG. 8 depicts an example of re-packing a fragmented wireless carriertree according to at least one aspect.

FIG. 9 depicts a sample methodology for allocating an integratedwireless carrier tree as a function of traffic type according to one ormore aspects described herein.

FIG. 10 depicts an example methodology for managing an integratedwireless carrier tree according to still other aspects.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example operating environmentthat can perform electronic processing and communication functionsdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The innovation is now described with reference to the drawings, whereinlike reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout.In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the innovationcan be practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form inorder to facilitate a description thereof.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,”“equipment,” “interface”, “network,” and/or the like are intended torefer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination ofhardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example,a component can be, but is not limited to being, a process running on aprocessor, a processor, a hard disk drive, multiple storage drives (ofoptical and/or magnetic storage medium), an object, an executable, athread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way ofillustration, both an application running on a server and the server canbe a component. One or more components can reside within a processand/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on onecomputer and/or distributed between two or more computers.

The subject disclosure provides for efficient management of integratedwireless carrier trees. A wireless carrier tree is an organizationalstructure (e.g., see FIGS. 3 and 4, infra) utilized to assign multiplewireless calls to air resources of a wireless carrier. The wirelesscarrier can be a code division multiple access (CDMA) technology, wherecalls are assigned distinguishable codes (e.g., orthogonal codes), anorthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) technology, where callsare assigned distinguishable frequency tones, or like code and/or tonewireless communication technology.

A wireless carrier tree is generally split into multiple code or tonesegments, where each segment corresponds to a fraction of an overallbandwidth and data rate available to a wireless carrier. Typical treesegmentation occurs in layers, with a spreading factor associated withsegments of each layer. The spreading factor indicates a fraction ofavailable carrier tree bandwidth available to each segment on aparticular layer. For instance, a wireless carrier's entire bandwidth isun-segmented and having spreading factor 1 (SF1). A second layer has 2segments of SF2, each with one half of the carrier's bandwidth and datarate. A third layer has 4 segments of SF4, each with one fourth of thecarrier's bandwidth and data rate. The various segments aredistinguished by way of distinguishable codes or tones, as suitable tothe carrier's technology, assigned to signals on each segment. Ingeneral, a bandwidth of a segment having spreading factor ‘x’, or SFx,will be equal to B/x, where B is the total bandwidth of the carrier.

A number of segment layers of a wireless carrier tree can correspond toa total bandwidth associated with the carrier and a minimum bandwidthapplicable to a single type of call. As a non-limiting example, if acarrier has 5 MHz total bandwidth, and the minimum bandwidth required bya single call is 12.5 KHz (e.g., a circuit-switched voice call), acarrier tree for such a carrier can be split into 9 segment layers, fromSF1 at the top layer to SF256 at the bottom layer. As discussed above,an SF1 block has the total bandwidth, B/x, of the carrier (e.g., 5 MHzin this instance), and an SF256 block has B/x bandwidth, or 5 MHzdivided by 256=approximately 19.5 KHz. Although an SF256 segment hasmore bandwidth than required for the 12.5 KHz call, the next smallerlayer, at SF512, would have approximately 9.75 KHz of bandwidth, whichis insufficient to handle the call. Accordingly, SF256 is the largestspreading factor capable of handling 12.5 KHz calls for a 5 MHz carrier.

Allocation of calls to a carrier tree is relatively straightforward whena carrier services only a particular type of wireless communication(e.g., circuit-switched communication or packet-switched communication).For instance, if a carrier handles only circuit-switched voice calls,under nominal circumstances a 5 MHz carrier can handle up to 256 suchcalls at a time, on SF256 segments, as described in the example above.Since each call requires only a single SF256 segment, calls can beallocated to any available segment of the carrier tree.

Data calls can be a bit more problematic since such calls can havevarious bandwidth and data rate requirements. For instance, high qualitydata traffic such as streaming video can require a relatively low, butguaranteed bit rate. Other data calls, such as web browsing traffic,download/upload traffic, e-mail, and the like, can perform optimallywith much higher data rates, but can also be served with fluctuatingdata rates without much concern. Because data calls can have differentdata rates, they are typically allocated to one or more portions of acode tree, at various layers. For instance, a 128 KHz data call can beallocated to a single SF 32 segment (e.g., having approximately 156KHz). Accordingly, the data call also utilizes the resources of thesub-segments of the SF32 segment, specifically 8 SF256 segments, 4 SF128segments, and 2 SF64 segments. A very large data call, 2 MHz inbandwidth, could be assigned to a single SF2 segment of the carriertree, as long as all of the sub-segments that correspond to the SF2segment are available. Note, however, that a second SF2 call cannot beaccommodated concurrently with the SF32 call and the SF2 call, since thesecond SF32 segment of the carrier tree has a sub-segment allocated tothe 128 KHz call (e.g., one of 16 SF32 segments associated with thesecond SF2 segment). As illustrated, a data carrier can service varyingnumbers of data calls before reaching capacity, depending onrequirements of each call.

It is also pertinent to note a single call generally is serviced bycontiguous segments. For instance, a data call requiring two SF8segments cannot be served by one SF8 segment at one end of a carriertree and another SF8 segment at an opposite end of the carrier tree. Thecall should be served by two contiguous SF8 segments. Accordingly,fragmentation of a carrier tree represents a particular problem for datacall carrier trees that does not occur with circuit-switched voicecarrier trees (or, e.g., any carrier tree serving calls having a verynarrow variation in bandwidth). Specifically, if available carrier treesegments are not maintained in a contiguous portion of the carrier tree,larger data calls can be un-serviceable, even though a total availablebandwidth of the carrier can accommodate the data call.

For integrated carrier trees that can service multiple-data rate calls,fragmentation of available segments typically leads to an inability tosupport larger data rate calls. Conventional carrier tree schedulingassigns calls starting from one end of a carrier tree toward an oppositeend, until the carrier tree is full. However, because calls can drop outrandomly, carrier trees often become fragmented. If data rates ofincoming calls are all within a narrow range, assignment of new callssimply requires identifying the newly available segments. Where incomingcalls have data rates that vary, assignment of new calls involvesidentifying a sufficient number of available contiguous segments toprovide a required data rate. In other words, a carrier typically willwait to assign a call until an available number of contiguous segmentsare available to service the call.

As a particular example, an integrated carrier that can handle bothsmall data rate voice calls and high data rate web-browsing or downloadcalls can become fragmented relatively often. The voice calls aretypically scheduled to a single small segment of the carrier tree. Largedata calls can be scheduled to varying numbers of segments. As the voicecalls drop out randomly, available segments will result at random pointsin the carrier tree. Subsequent voice calls can often be allocated tothese segments, but many times data calls cannot until a sufficientnumber of contiguous available segments occur. Accordingly, a needexists for more efficient scheduling to mitigate fragmentation ofavailable carrier tree segments (e.g., occurrence of non-contiguousavailable segments) and to manage fragmentation due to random calldrops.

The subject disclosure provides improved management of carrier treesegments to mitigate segment fragmentation, increase carrier treepacking efficiency, and/or decrease resulting carrier treefragmentation. In some aspects, portions of a carrier tree can beallocated to calls as a function of traffic type. For instance, one ormore portions can be allocated as a function of type of call (e.g.,voice calls, data calls, circuit-switched calls, packet-switched calls,and so on), type of call service (e.g., voice service, broadband dataservice, streaming service), type of call application (e.g., streamingvideo, streaming audio, voice over Internet Protocol [VoIP], mobileconference call), or quality of service (e.g., guaranteed bit rate [GBR]services, high quality low demand services, high demand services, and soon). As a particular example, a first portion of a carrier tree andassociated radio resources can be allocated to guaranteed bit ratecalls. Such guaranteed bit rate calls can be allocated starting at oneend of the first portion. A second portion of the carrier tree andassociated radio resources can be allocated to a shared pool of packetdata calls. High demand (e.g., high bandwidth or high data rate) callswith low quality priority can be allocated to one end of the shared pool(e.g., an end that is adjacent the first portion allocated to guaranteedbit rate calls) and a second end of the shared pool, opposite the oneend, can be allocated to low demand calls. In addition, a third portionof the carrier tree and associated radio services (e.g., at an oppositeend of the carrier tree from the first portion) can be allocated tocircuit switched voice calls. By allocating calls to portions of thecarrier tree as a function of quality, service, application, and/or thelike, contention for resources can be reduced for high quality/prioritycalls. In addition, when low demand and/or low bit rate calls drop out,fragmentation is reduced with respect to high demand and/or high bitrate calls, enabling a greater number of carrier tree segments to beallocated at a given time.

In some aspects, portions of a carrier tree allocated to particulartypes of calls can be re-allocated to meet increased demand. Forinstance, if an increase in guaranteed bit rate calls occurs, andcarrier tree segments allocated to such calls are filled, idle carriertree segments within the carrier tree can be re-allocated to guaranteedbit rate calls. In further aspects, a radio access bearer (RAB)associated with the idle carrier tree segments can be reconfigured tobest support guaranteed bit rate calls. Surplus guaranteed bit ratecalls can be assigned to the re-allocated carrier tree segments to meetincreased demand of such calls. If demand decreases at a subsequenttime, the re-allocated segments can be configured to other types ofcalls (e.g., high bit rate, low quality calls, low bit rate high qualitycalls, and so on).

According to further aspects, idle carrier tree segments can bemaintained in one or more portion(s) of a carrier tree. For instance, ifa portion is allocated to voice calls, idle segments of the portion canbe preserved for future voice call demand. In other aspects, idlesegments of the carrier tree can be maintained in a particular portionof the carrier tree. For instance, in at least one aspect, idle portionscan be maintained in the middle of the carrier tree, or at one end, orthe like.

In still other aspects, re-packing of calls currently serviced by acarrier tree can be provided. For instance, a call serviced by onesegment can be transferred to another segment of the carrier treemid-call. In some aspects, re-packing can be performed to maintain callsof a particular type, application, service, quality, etc., in contiguoussegments of the carrier tree. As an example, if three adjacent segmentsare serving three low bit rate applications, and a call allocated to amiddle of the three segments drops out, a call allocated to one of theadjacent segments can be re-packed into the middle segment. Accordingly,the remaining low bit rate applications are served by contiguous,adjacent segments. In other aspects, re-packing can be affected tomaintain idle segments in a contiguous portion(s) of the carrier tree.Accordingly, as calls drop out of the carrier tree, remaining callsserviced by the carrier tree can be re-packed into one or morecontiguous portions such that idle segments are also maintained in oneor more contiguous portions of the carrier tree.

As described herein, the subject disclosure provides for improvedefficiency for mobile carrier tree allocation. In addition, greaterthroughput for wireless base stations utilizing such carrier trees toorganize wireless transmission resources (e.g., air transmissionresources) can be achieved. Such wireless base stations can serve moreusers and applications on average, while reducing resource contentionfor high priority and/or high demand (e.g., high bit rate) applications.

In addition to the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the claimedsubject matter can be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article ofmanufacture using typical programming and/or engineering techniques toproduce software, firmware, hardware, or any suitable combinationthereof to control a computing device, such as a mobile handset, toimplement the disclosed subject matter. The term “article ofmanufacture” as used herein is intended to encompass a computer programaccessible from any suitable computer-readable device, media, or acarrier generated by such media/device. For example, computer readablemedia can include but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g.,hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips . . . ), optical disks (e.g.,compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD) . . . ), smart cards,and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive . . . ).Additionally it should be appreciated that a carrier wave generated by atransmitter can be employed to carry computer-readable electronic datasuch as those used in transmitting and receiving electronic mail or inaccessing a network such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN).Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize many modificationsmay be made to this configuration without departing from the scope orspirit of the claimed subject matter.

Moreover, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the wordexemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As usedin this application, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or”rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, orclear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of thenatural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; orX employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under anyof the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” asused in this application and the appended claims should generally beconstrued to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear fromcontext to be directed to a singular form.

Furthermore, the terms to “infer” or “inference”, as used herein, refergenerally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of thesystem, environment, and/or user from a set of observations as capturedvia events and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specificcontext or action, or can generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, thecomputation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of newevents or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored eventdata, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent and data sources.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 100 thatprovides efficient management of a wireless carrier tree 106 accordingto some aspects. System 100 can include a management component 102 thatcan receive a request to allocate a call to a wireless carrier of amobile base station. The wireless carrier can include a mixed orintegrated quality of service (QoS) carrier, serving applications withvarying QoS requirements. A scheduling component 104 can assign the callto a portion of a wireless carrier tree associated with the wirelesscarrier based at least in part on a characteristic of the call.Accordingly, wireless carrier throughput can be increased and contentionfor resources of high demand and high quality calls can be reduced.

A wireless carrier, as used herein, can correspond to any suitablemobile communication technology in which a wireless carrier is broken upinto multiple segments. Examples can include CDMA technology (e.g.,utilizing multiple code segments), OFDM technology (e.g., utilizingmultiple tone segments), time division multiple access (TDMA) technology(e.g., utilizing multiple time segments), or a combination of these orlike technologies. Accordingly, the subject disclosure is not limited toCDMA technology, or OFDM technology, etc.

System 100 includes a wireless carrier tree 106 that has a predeterminedamount of air transmission bandwidth (total bandwidth) and data transferrate (data rate) for wireless transmission of information. The wirelesscarrier can be organized by a carrier tree (106) that subdivides thetotal bandwidth and data rate (e.g., see FIG. 3 and related discussion,infra). The carrier tree 106 is divided into multiple layers N, where Nis an integer larger than zero (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.). Each layer has2^(N-1) segments and each segment of a layer has bandwidth and/or datarate equal to 1/2 ^(N-1) of the total bandwidth/data rate. In addition,each layer corresponds to a spreading factor (SF) of 2^(N-1) (e.g.,layer 1 corresponds to SF 2⁰ or SF1, layer 2 corresponds to SF2¹ or SF2,layer 3 corresponds to SF 2² or SF4, and so on, see FIG. 3, infra). Thereceived call request can be allocated to one or more segments of acarrier tree layer that provide a sufficient data rate and/or bandwidthfor the call. For instance, if an SF16 segment of a carrier treeprovides 100 kHz of bandwidth, and a circuit-switched voice callrequires 12.5 KHz of bandwidth, 8 such circuit-switched voice calls canbe allocated to the SF16. Specifically, each 12.5 KHz call can beallocated to one of eight SF128 segments of the SF16 segment, each SF128segment have ⅛ of the 100 KHz bandwidth of the SF16 segment, or 12.5KHz.

A wireless carrier has various segments at various layers of a wirelesscarrier tree 106, as described above. Scheduling component 104 canselect an SF layer for the received call based on resource demand of thecall (e.g., bit rate) and available resources of the wireless carriertree 106. If a segment at a particular SF layer is available to meet thedemand of a call, the call can be assigned to a segment on that SFlayer. If the segment is not available at a requested SF layer, the callcan be assigned to a higher SF layer, having lower resources, ifsuitable.

In addition, a segment of a particular SF layer can be selected based ona characteristic of the received call. For instance, the call can beassigned to an available segment starting from the right side of carriertree 106 if it has a first characteristic. Alternatively, or inaddition, the received call can be assigned to an available segmentstarting from the left side of carrier tree if the received call has asecond characteristic. Furthermore, the received call can be assigned toa middle portion of the carrier tree 106 if it has a thirdcharacteristic or a fourth characteristic. For example, calls having thethird characteristic can be assigned to a segment(s) starting at a rightend of the middle portion of the carrier tree 106. Likewise, callshaving the fourth characteristic can be assigned to a segment(s)starting from a left end of the middle portion of the carrier tree 106.

In accordance with at least one aspect, idle segments of the carriertree 106 can be maintained in one or more predetermined portions of thecarrier tree 106. For instance, idle segments can be maintained in oneor more center segments at the center of the middle portion, discussedabove. Alternatively, or in addition, one or more idle segments can bemaintained at a left side portion of the carrier tree 106 and/or a rightside portion of the carrier tree 106 (e.g., see FIG. 2, infra).Accordingly, idle segments can be maintained in the carrier tree 106 toprovide additional support for calls of a particularly type.

As described above, scheduling component 104 can selectively assign acall to a portion of the wireless carrier tree 106 based on at least onecharacteristic of the call. Suitable characteristic of the call caninclude whether the call is a circuit-switched call or a packet-switchedcall. Further, a suitable characteristic can be QoS requirements, suchas GBR, high priority service, medium priority service, and so on.Moreover, a suitable characteristic can be resource demand of a call,such as high bit rate or bandwidth. In other aspects, a suitablecharacteristic can be whether the call can support bursts of resources.For instance, a high demand, low priority call is often referred to as a‘bursty’ call. The call does not require high data rates to beeffective, but provides a better (e.g., faster) service when such datarates are available. Thus, ‘bursty’ applications (e.g., web-browsing anddownloading traffic) can be provided extra resources or have resourcesreduced based on requirements of other calls (e.g., high quality calls,whether high data rate or low data rate).

According to other aspects of the subject disclosure, a suitablecharacteristic of the call can be a type of application or type ofservice associated with the call. For instance, scheduling component 104can assign select a portion of the wireless carrier tree 106 based onwhether the call is a voice call (e.g., circuit-switched call or VoIPcall), a streaming data service, a guaranteed bit rate service, aweb-browsing service, an e-mail service, a web download service, or acombination thereof or of the like. It should also be appreciated thatwireless carrier tree 106 can correspond to an integrated or mixed-QoScarrier. Such an integrated carrier can provide service for at least twotypes of QoS calls, including circuit-switched voice calls,packet-switched VoIP calls, streaming data services, GBR calls, highdemand low quality packet services (e.g., ‘bursty’ applications), ormid/low demand high quality packet services (e.g., VoIP), or like calltypes.

As described, system 100 provides for allocation of received calls to awireless carrier tree 106 as a function of characteristic of thecall(s). Such allocation can provide increased throughput for mobilebase stations. In addition, the allocation can provide reducedcontention for high quality and/or high demand packet services, enablingthe mobile base station to service a larger number of concurrent highdemand/quality calls.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a system 200 that provides allocationof a portion(s) of a wireless carrier to various types of calls. System200 can include an allocation component 202 that can designate portions(206, 208, 210) of a wireless carrier tree 204 to serve a predeterminedtype(s) of traffic (212, 214, 216, 218). In a particular example,traffic can be grouped together within the wireless carrier tree 204 asa function of resource demand and/or quality. Accordingly, serviceshaving similar data rates can be grouped together such that a droppedcall of one service-type can more readily be replaced with a subsequentcall of a similar service-type. Accordingly, fragmentation of carriertree resources segments can be reduced, providing increased throughputand reduced resource contention.

Allocation component 202 can divide wireless carrier tree 204 into twoor more portions (206, 208, 210). Each portion (206, 208, 210) can bedesignated for a particular type of call traffic (212, 214, 216, 218).Traffic can be segregated according to call service, call application,call quality, call demand, or a combination thereof or of the like. Itshould be appreciated that the two or more portions do not necessarilycorrespond with a like number of SF segments of the carrier tree (e.g.,see FIG. 3, infra). For instance, a first portion can be allocated to asingle SF64 segment of an SF8 segment (e.g., having eight SF64 segments)of the carrier tree 204 and a second portion can be allocated to sevenremaining SF64 segments of the SF8 segment. The remaining seven SF8segments of the carrier tree 204 can be allocated to a third type oftraffic, or to multiple other types of traffic.

It should further be appreciated that various suitable organizations ofa carrier tree 204 as a function of traffic type/call characteristic areincorporated herein. Because many such organizations can exist, only afew are specifically described. However, the subject disclosure shouldnot be limited to the example embodiments articulated herein; rather,any suitable organization of carrier tree resources as a function ofcall characteristic(s), known to one of skill in the art or made knownto one of skill in the art by way of the context provided by thedisclosed embodiments, is incorporated into the subject disclosure.

In some aspects, allocation component 202 can generate three portions206, 208, 210 of the wireless carrier tree 204 designated for fourdifferent types of traffic 212, 214, 216, 218. For instance, a left-mostportion 206 of the carrier tree 204 can be designated forcircuit-switched voice traffic 212. As another example, a right-mostportion 208 of the carrier tree 204 can be designated for high qualityhigh demand data traffic 218, including GBR traffic and traffic handlingpriority 1 traffic (THP1) (e.g., THP1 can be a highest priority trafficbelow GBR). The high quality data traffic can include streaming datatraffic (e.g., streaming audio, streaming video) or like services thatreceive a benefit from a consistent bit rate, low jitter, and/or minimalor no packet loss.

According to additional aspects, allocation component can designate athird portion 210 of the wireless carrier tree 204 to a shared pool ofresources. The shared pool can be designated for one or more types oftraffic (214, 216). For instance, high demand low quality services canbe designated for a right hand portion of the shared pool 210, adjacentto the high quality services 218 of the second portion 208. Further, lowdemand high quality packet services 214 (e.g., packet-switched voicetraffic, or VoIP) can be designated to a left hand portion of the sharedpool 210. As depicted, the low demand high quality packet services 214could then be adjacent to the left-most portion 206 designated forcircuit-switched voice traffic 212.

An arrangement as described above could enable designated resources ofthe carrier tree 204 to be shared amongst adjacent types of traffic. Forinstance, resources designated for packet-switched voice traffic 214could easily be shared with circuit-switched voice traffic 212, or viceversa, to meet contemporaneous demand requirements. Likewise, highdemand low quality traffic 216 can be shared with high quality highdemand traffic 218, or vice versa, as contemporaneous demand requires.

The depicted arrangement can be suitable to providing reducedfragmentation and reduced contention of high quality resources.Specifically, high demand traffic is generally designated for the rightportion of the carrier tree 204, whereas low demand traffic is generallydesignated for the left portion of the carrier tree 204. Thus,applications on the left side and right side of carrier tree 204 canoften have similar data rates. Accordingly, random incoming traffic canmore likely be filled as a result of call drops in nearby segments ofthe carrier tree 204. In addition, because high quality low demandtraffic 216 is typically least impacted by loss of data rate resources,the right hand portion of the shared pool 210 of resources can beallocated to streaming traffic 218 as needed, with minimal impact. Whenstreaming traffic 218 volume is low, additional data resources can beshared from the dedicated pool (or, e.g., from the middle or left handside of the shared pool 210 when low demand packet volume is low), toprovide exceptionally high data rates for the high demand low qualitytraffic 216 (e.g., ‘bursty’ applications).

According to one or more additional embodiments, idle segments of thecarrier tree 204 can be grouped into one or more portions (206, 208,210). For instance, by scheduling high quality high demand traffic 218starting from the right end of the right-most portion 208, idle segmentscan be maintained at the left end of the right-most portion 208. Thus,such idle segments can be readily shared with the high demand lowquality traffic 216, where suitable. In addition, by schedulingcircuit-switched voice traffic 212 starting from the left end of theleft-most portion 206, idle segments can be maintained at the right endof the first portion 206. Thus, idle segments of the left-most portion206 can be readily shared with the low demand high quality traffic 214.Alternatively, or in addition, by scheduling high demand low qualitytraffic 216 starting from the end of the shared pool 210, and low demandhigh quality traffic 214 from the left end of the shared pool 210, idlesegments within the shared pool can be maintained in a central region ofsuch shared pool 210. Such idle segments could be readily allocated tothe high demand low quality traffic 216 or low demand high qualitytraffic 214, as suitable.

It should be appreciated that the convention described above, utilizingleft-most and right-most sides of the carrier tree 204 or portionsthereof (206, 208, 210) are for contextual purposes only. A carrier treeis an organizational mechanism to applicable to a common resource, suchas bandwidth or data rate of a particular wireless carrier. Accordingly,the depictions and descriptions of a carrier tree and segments orportions of the carrier tree provided herein (e.g., carrier tree 204 andportions 206, 208, 210) are utilized in this context, and the subjectdisclosure should not be limited by the convention. Rather, suchdepictions and descriptions are to be accorded a scope commensurate withan understanding of one of skill in the art that results from thecontext provided herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a segmented integrated wireless carriertree 300 according to some aspects. Wireless carrier 300 is depicted ashaving five layers, each layer having 2^(N-1) segments of SF 2^(N-1) andeach segment corresponding to substantially ½^(N-1) of the totalbandwidth and data rate of the wireless carrier 300A. Thus, if wirelesscarrier 300 has 10 KHz of bandwidth, the SF1 segment would have ½⁰*10KHz, or 10 KHz of bandwidth, each SF2 segment would have substantially½¹*10 KHz, or 5 KHz of bandwidth, each SF4 segment would havesubstantially ½²*10 KHz, or 2.5 KHz of bandwidth, and so on.

As depicted, a data call (302) and several voice calls (304, 306, 308,310, 312) are currently assigned to wireless carrier tree 300. Data call302 utilizes four SF16 segments of the wireless carrier, which issubstantially equivalent to one SF4 segment. The five voice calls (304,306, 308, 310, 312) each utilize a single SF16 segment apiece (e.g.,fixed data rate circuit-switched voice calls). As is immediatelyapparent, the SF16 layer (layer 5) of the wireless carrier tree 300 ishighly fragmented. A total of seven idle SF16 segments exist,corresponding to nearly half of the bandwidth of the carrier tree 300.While it is true that seven additional SF16 voice calls can be readilyassigned to wireless carrier tree 300, because a single call requiresadjacent segments where multiple segments service the call, noadditional SF4 data calls can be allocated to the carrier tree 300. Thisis in spite of the fact that the carrier tree 300 has overall bandwidthcapable of supporting on additional SF4 data call (302), as well as anadditional SF8 and SF16 calls.

Segmentation of integrated carriers (300), therefore, can lead toreduced throughput. In particular, carrier tree capacity for high demandcalls (e.g., high bandwidth, high data rate), which typically correspondto higher-end service plans, is significantly reduced. Thus, callspotentially providing a higher revenue stream per resource aredisproportionately hindered by fragmentation. Conventionally, calls areallocated starting from one end of the carrier tree 300 to an oppositeend, until the carrier tree 300 is full. As calls drop out, other callsare re-allocated to newly idle segments so long as resource requirementsof adjacent segments are sufficient to support such calls. Forcircuit-switched voice calls, fragmentation is only a minor issue inregard to throughput, because such calls can often be serviced by lowestresource segment of a carrier tree (e.g., often a SF32, SF64, SF128 oreven larger SF segment). Thus, circuit-switched calls can often beserviced by any idle segment; adjacent segments of larger SF segmentsare not necessary. However, packet-switched data can often correspond tovastly different data rates, utilizing various adjacent segments of acarrier tree 300. Thus, by packing calls as a function of callcharacteristic, such as demand, quality, service, etc., calls ofsubstantially like data rates can be grouped together within a carriertree reducing the impact of fragmentation, and increasing overallthroughput.

FIG. 4 depicts an example of an integrated wireless carrier tree 400packed as a function of traffic type according to further aspects of thesubject disclosure. As depicted, a high quality data call 402 is at theright-most end of the SF16 row of segments. Voice calls 404, 406, 408,410, 412 are assigned starting from the left-most end of the SF16 row ofsegments. As compared with FIG. 3, a stark contrast results from packingcalls as a function of traffic type. For instance, if one or more of thevoice calls (404, 406, 408, 410, 412) drops out, little or no effectoccurs on the high quality data call 402.

In addition to the foregoing, carrier tree 400 can support a high ratelow quality data call 414 allocated to one SF4 segment (and itscorresponding sub-segments) and an SF8 segment (and its correspondingsub-segments) of the carrier tree 400. By packing voice and data callsat opposite ends of the carrier tree 400, much greater throughput isprovided for carrier tree 400 as compared with carrier tree 300. Inaddition, if either of the data calls drops out, little impact on thethroughput of carrier tree 400 results.

As a particular example of the foregoing, if data call 402 drops out, asubsequent SF4 data call, or 2 SF8 data calls, or 4 SF16 data calls cane allocated to the idle segments that result from such occurrence.Alternatively, or in addition, the high rate low quality data call 414can e allocated extra resources if the high quality data call drops 402drops out. Further, if any of the voice calls (404, 406, 408, 410, 412)drop out, the idle segments can readily be allocated to new voice calls,or to an additional data call (414), or such segments can be shared withthe current high rate low quality data call 414, or a suitablecombination thereof. As depicted, even if none of the other currentlysupported calls drop out, high rate low quality data call 414 can beprovided another SF16 segment (e.g., the idle segment between the VC₅412 and the high rate low quality call 414). As will be described inmore detail below, carrier tree (400) segments can be dynamicallyre-allocated to different types of data, as suitable to concurrenttraffic demand. Further, supported calls can be re-packed within thecarrier tree 400. Accordingly, the subject disclosure provides addedflexibility in managing carrier tree 400 resources to meet spontaneouscall demand requirements in addition to increasing throughput andreducing high quality call contention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a sample system 500 that canidentify fragmented segments 510A, 510B of a wireless carrier tree 508according to some aspects. Identification can be done real time toreduce non-utilized idle segments when other calls are waiting forwireless transmission resources of a mobile base station. Accordingly,system 500 provides a mechanism to provide increased throughput of amobile base station.

As depicted, system 500 includes a management component 502 thatreceives an incoming call to a wireless carrier (508) of a mobile basestation (not depicted). In addition, a scheduling component 504 canassign the incoming call to a portion of the wireless carrier 508 basedat least in part on a characteristic of the call, as described herein.Furthermore, system 500 can include an assignment indicator 506 thatidentifies a free block (510A, 510B) of the wireless carrier 508 and/oridentifies a sub-division (512, 514, 516) of the wireless carrier 508associated with the free block (510A, 510B). Assignment indicator 506can parse segments of the carrier tree 508 to determine which segmentsare actively supporting calls and which segments are idle (510A, 510B).Idle segments can be provided to scheduling component 504 in conjunctionwith processing the incoming call.

According to further aspects, the scheduling component 504 assigns acall to a free block identified by the assignment indicator 506.Assignment can be based at least in part on whether a characteristic ofthe call (e.g., service, quality, resource demand, service, or acombination thereof or of the like) matches a characteristic of asub-division 512, 514, 516 of the carrier tree 508. As depicted by FIG.5, three sub-divisions 512, 514, 516 are identified. The sub-divisionscan be allocated to one or more call characteristics. For instance,sub-division 512 can be allocated to voice calls. Sub-division 514 canbe allocated to high rate data calls (e.g., ‘bursty’ traffic), and/orsub-division 516 can be allocated to high quality calls (e.g., streamingvideo). It should be appreciated that any combination of two or moresub-divisions (512, 514, 516) can be allocated for a carrier tree 508,and the example provided by FIG. 5 is not limited to the displayedembodiment(s).

Scheduling component 504 can identify pertinent characteristics of anincoming call and match the characteristics to identified sub-divisions512, 514, 516. Thus, in the depicted example, if the incoming call is avoice call, scheduling component 504 can assign the call to idle segment510A. Alternatively, in some embodiments, idle block 510A can bere-allocated to high data rate traffic if the incoming call is a highdata rate call. Further, if the incoming call is a high quality datacall, scheduling component 504 can schedule such call to idle segment510B. Accordingly, system 500 can dynamically identify idle segments510A, 510B and characteristics of such segments 510A, 510B. Further,system 500 can readily appropriate such segments 510A, 510B to callswaiting to be served, decreasing latency for such calls.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a sample system 600 that canre-allocate portions (610, 612, 614) of a wireless carrier tree 608 tovarying types of traffic according to further aspects. By re-allocatingsegments (616) apportioned to one type of traffic (610, 612, 614),contemporaneous demand in other types of traffic can be managed moreefficiently. Accordingly, system 600 can provide further increasedefficiency and throughput of mobile base stations.

System 600 can include a management component 602 that can receiveincoming call requests and a scheduling component 604 that can schedulesuch calls to the wireless carrier tree. In addition, system 600 caninclude a re-allocation component 606 that temporarily configures one ormore segments of the wireless carrier 608 allocated to service a firsttype of traffic to serve a second type of traffic. For instance, one ormore segments 616 allocated to a high data rate block of traffic 612 canbe re-allocated to service voice traffic. Likewise, segments (616)allocated to serve voice traffic (610) or high quality data traffic(614) can be re-allocated to service high rate data traffic, and so on.Re-allocation component 606 can receive information from managementcomponent 602 related to characteristics of traffic being received bysystem 600. Re-allocation component 606 can then adjust allocation ofsegments (616) of the carrier tree to support incoming traffic demands.Accordingly, system 600 can provide flexibility for handling variousfluctuations in incoming call demand, as a function if characteristicsof such incoming calls.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a sample system 700 that canre-pack a wireless carrier tree 704 according to one or more aspects. Ascalls drop in and out of the wireless carrier tree 704, causingfragmentation, existing calls can be re-packed into contiguous segments.Accordingly, idle segments are grouped into one or more adjacentportions of the carrier tree 704 providing increased support for higherdemand data calls, increasing mobile base station throughput.

System 700 includes a re-assignment component 702 that can shift acall(s), once assigned, from one portion of the wireless carrier 704 toa second portion of the wireless carrier. As an example, as depicted atFIG. 3 and FIG. 4, fragmented voice blocks (304, 306, 308, 310, 312) canbe re-packed into a contiguous segment of voice blocks (404, 406, 408,410, 412). In addition, data calls (302) can be re-packed from a portionof the carrier tree 300 to another portion, such as the right-mostportion depicted at FIG. 4. As a result, idle segments are grouped intoa contiguous bundle providing greater support for high data rate calls(e.g., high rate data call 414).

Re-assignment component 702 can include a hard-shift component 706 thatcan re-pack existing calls in the carrier tree 704 in a manner analogousto a hard handoff in a mobile cell or between mobile cells. As anexample, to shift a call via hard shift, hard-shift component 706 canopen a second segment of the carrier tree (e.g., a target idlesegment(s)), and copy information associated with the call from theassigned portion to the second segment of the carrier tree 704.Hard-shift component 706 can then reconfigure a radio bearer and/orradio resource associated with the second segment to serve the call.(E.g., to accomplish providing a new code assignment for the call in aCDMA environment or a new tone assignment for the call in an OFDMenvironment, and so on). Further, the hard-shift component can close theassigned segment in conjunction with shifting the call, rendering theassigned segment idle. Call information can be copied by hard-shiftcomponent 706 to memory 712 in conjunction with the hard-shift, tomitigate likelihood of dropping the call during the shift.

In addition, re-assignment component 702 can include a soft-shiftcomponent 708 that can re-pack existing calls in the carrier tree 704 ina manner analogous to a soft handoff in a mobile cell or between mobilecells. As an example, soft-shift component 708 can move a call from anassigned SF segment(s) (e.g., SF16 segment) to a lower SF segment(s)(e.g., SF8 segment) in conjunction with shifting the call (e.g., toaccomplish providing a new code or tone assignment for the call). Bysoft-shifting the call, data is not erased from the carrier tree duringshifting; instead, the data is copied from one segment to another untilthe data reaches a target segment, mitigating likelihood of dropping thecall.

System 700 can also include a resource reconfiguration component 710that can select between a hard intra-carrier shift and a softintra-carrier shift based on the characteristic of the call or a statusof portions of the wireless carrier between the assigned portion and thesecond portion. For instance, if the call is to be moved within a blockallocated to a common call characteristic (e.g., moved from one segmentallocated to voice traffic to another segment allocated to voicetraffic) a soft-shift can be utilized, which has a lower innateprobability of dropping the call. If, however, various calls areallocated to segments between an existing segment and a target segmentfor the re-packing, a hard-shift can be utilized to reduce need tore-allocate calls served by intervening segments. Data associated withthe call can be temporarily stored in memory 712 to reduce likelihood ofthe call being dropped. Accordingly, system 700 provides an enhancementto carrier tree (704) management that dynamically enables like trafficto be contiguous to like traffic, and idle segments to be dynamicallygrouped in one or more contiguous portions (e.g., as depicted at FIG.4).

FIG. 8 depicts an additional example of re-packing a fragmented wirelesscarrier tree (802A, 802B, 802C) according to at least one aspect.Carrier tree 802A is fully packed with existing calls, including voicecalls in single segments, and data calls in multiple contiguoussegments. At 802B, three voice calls drop out, as well as one data callutilizing two adjacent segments. Thus, carrier tree 802B depicts afragmented carrier tree, having 5 idle segments. Two incoming calls arealso received at carrier tree 802B, a single segment voice call and aquad-segment high quality data call. Although the voice call can bereadily assigned to one of the idle segments, the high quality data callcannot be assigned to any segment, despite the fact that the carriertree has sufficient idle segments to support both calls. Carrier tree802C depicts a re-packed tree (802C) that can support both calls withcontiguous idle segments. The high rate data call traffic is re-packedinto a single contiguous segment, rendering a sufficient number of idlecontiguous segments to support the quad-segment high quality data call.In addition, the voice call is allocated to the left-most segment, tofully pack the carrier tree 802C. Accordingly, although the fragmentedcarrier tree 802B did not have sufficient contiguous resources tosupport the high quality data call, by re-packing existing calls in amanner that groups the idle segments into a contiguous group(s), thecarrier tree can be fully packed, as depicted at 802C.

The aforementioned systems have been described with respect tointeraction between several components, modules and/or mobile networkfunctions. It should be appreciated that such systems andcomponents/modules/functions can include those components orsub-components specified therein, some of the specified components orsub-components, and/or additional components. For example, a systemcould include management component 102, scheduling component 104,wireless carrier tree 106, and re-assignment component 308, or adifferent combination of these and other components. Sub-componentscould also be implemented as components communicatively coupled to othercomponents rather than included within parent components. Additionally,it should be noted that one or more components can be combined into asingle component providing aggregate functionality. For instance,management component 602 can include re-allocation component 606, orvice versa, to facilitate identifying characteristics of incoming callsand identifying freed-up segments and/or characteristics of associatedportions of a carrier tree containing such segments by way of a singlecomponent. The components may also interact with one or more othercomponents not specifically described herein but known by those of skillin the art.

Furthermore, as will be appreciated, various portions of the disclosedsystems above and methods below may include or consist of artificialintelligence or knowledge or rule based components, sub-components,processes, means, methodologies, or mechanisms (e.g., support vectormachines, neural networks, expert systems, Bayesian belief networks,fuzzy logic, data fusion engines, classifiers . . . ). Such components,inter alia, and in addition to that already described herein, canautomate certain mechanisms or processes performed thereby to makeportions of the systems and methods more adaptive as well as efficientand intelligent.

In view of the exemplary systems described supra, methodologies that maybe implemented in accordance with the disclosed subject matter will bebetter appreciated with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 9-10.While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies areshown and described as a series of blocks, it is to be understood andappreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited by the orderof the blocks, as some blocks may occur in different orders and/orconcurrently with other blocks from what is depicted and describedherein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks may be required toimplement the methodologies described hereinafter. Additionally, itshould be further appreciated that the methodologies disclosedhereinafter and throughout this specification are capable of beingstored on an article of manufacture to facilitate transporting andtransferring such methodologies to computers. The term article ofmanufacture, as used, is intended to encompass a computer programaccessible from any computer-readable device, media, or a carrier inconjunction with such computer-readable device or media.

FIG. 9 depicts a sample methodology 900 for allocating an integratedwireless carrier tree as a function of traffic type according to one ormore aspects described herein. At 902, method 900 can designate aportion of a carrier tree to a first traffic type. The carrier tree canbe associated with a suitable mobile communication technology, such asCDMA, OFDM, TDMA, or suitable combination thereof or of the like. Inaddition, the portion can include two or more segments of the carriertree of varying spreading factors, as described herein. Further, theportion can be designated for various types of traffic as a function ofcall quality, call demand, call application and/or call service, or acombination thereof.

At 904, method 900 can designate a second portion of the carrier tree toa second traffic type. The second portion can likewise include varioussegments of suitable spreading factors. In addition, in someembodiments, the second portion can be at an opposite end of the carriertree from the first portion. The second traffic type can include asuitable combination of call quality, demand, service and/orapplication, different in at least one respect from the traffic typeallocated to the first portion. At 906, an incoming call is assigned tothe first portion of the carrier tree or the second portion of thecarrier tree based on a type of traffic associated with the incomingcall. For instance, if the incoming call is a voice call, the call canbe allocated to the first or second portion depending on which portionis most closely related to voice calls. Accordingly, by allocatingportions of the carrier tree to particular calls, fragmentation can bereduced, and idle segments can be maintained in contiguous portions ofthe carrier tree, providing increased throughput for an associatedmobile base station.

FIG. 10 depicts an example methodology 1000 for managing an integratedwireless carrier tree according to still other aspects. At 1002, a firstend of the wireless carrier tree can be allocated to a first type oftraffic. At 1004, a second end (e.g., opposite the first end) of thewireless carrier tree can be allocated to a second type of traffic. At1006, method 1000 can assign best effort traffic (e.g., low quality‘bursty’ traffic) to a middle region of the carrier tree. Accordingly,resources of the carrier tree in the middle region assigned to the‘bursty’ traffic, which is minimally impacted by fluctuating data rates,can be shared with the first type of traffic or the second type oftraffic at the ends of the carrier tree.

At 1008, un-assigned tree segments can be maintained at one or moreportions of the middle region, between the ends of the carrier tree. At1010, method 1000 can make a determination as to whether fragmentationof the carrier tree has occurred. If fragmentation has occurred, method1000 can proceed to 1012. If no fragmentation has occurred, method 1000can proceed instead to 1016.

At 1012, calls can be re-packed within the carrier tree to reduce oreliminate carrier tree fragmentation. Re-packing can be performed with ahard-shift intra-carrier handoff, or a soft-shift intra-carrier handoff.In addition, method 1000 can select between hard-shift and soft-shiftbased on characteristics of shifted calls, characteristics of nearbycalls and/or status of intervening segments between an assigned segmentand a target segment. At 1014, free segments can be identified andoptionally a portion of the carrier tree in which the free segmentsreside can also be identified.

At 1016, method 1000 can make a determination as to whether surpluscalls have been received over and above available resource requirementsof the carrier tree. If such surplus calls have been received, method1000 can proceed to 1018, where best effort data resources (e.g.,bandwidth and/or data rate) can be shared/reduced to provide support forthe surplus calls. At 1020, method 1000 can assign the surplus calls tothe shared/reduced portions of the carrier tree, if suitable.

At 1022, method 1000 can make a determination as to whether a surplus ofcalls of a particular traffic type has been received. If not, method1000 can return to reference number 1008 where un-assigned treesegments, if any, can be maintained and/or re-allocated to the middleregion of the carrier tree. If surplus calls of a particular type havebeen received, method 1000 can proceed to 1024 where idle segmentsallocated to a different traffic type are re-allocated to the particularsurplus traffic type. At 1026, method 1000 can assign the new calls ofthe surplus traffic type to the re-allocated idle segments. Method 1000can then proceed to reference number 1008. As described, method 1000provides various mechanisms to intelligently manage a carrier tree toreduce fragmentation, increase overall carrier tree throughput, andreduce contention of resources for high quality traffic calls.Accordingly, substantial benefit is derived by such mechanisms inimplementing mobile carrier base station resources.

Referring now to FIG. 11, there is illustrated a block diagram of acomputer 1102 operable to manage wireless carrier resources of a mobilebase station. In order to provide additional context for various aspectsof the claimed subject matter, FIG. 11 and the following discussion areintended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computingenvironment 1100 in which the various aspects described herein can beimplemented. While the description above is in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions that can run on one or more computers,those skilled in the art will recognize that the claimed subject matteralso can be implemented in combination with other program modules and/oras a combination of hardware and software.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

The illustrated aspects of the claimed subject matter can also bepracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

A computer (1102) typically includes a variety of computer-readablemedia. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can beaccessed by the computer and includes both volatile and non-volatilemedia, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer-readable media can comprise computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatileand non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in anymethod or technology for storage of information such ascomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM,ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalvideo disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other medium which can be used to store the desired informationand which can be accessed by the computer.

Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other data, optionally in amodulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term“modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of itscharacteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode informationin the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communicationmedia includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wiredconnection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and otherwireless media. Suitable combinations of the any of the above shouldalso be included within the scope of communication media derived fromcomputer-readable media and capable of subsequently propagating throughelectrically conductive media, (e.g., such as a system bus,microprocessor, data port, and the like) and/or non-electricallyconductive media (e.g., in the form of radio frequency, microwavefrequency, optical frequency and similar electromagnetic frequencymodulated data signals).

With reference again to FIG. 11, the exemplary environment 1100 forimplementing various aspects includes a computer 1102, the computer 1102including a processing unit 1104, a system memory 1106 and a system bus1108. The system bus 1108 couples system components including, but notlimited to, the system memory 1106 to the processing unit 1104. Theprocessing unit 1104 can be any of various commercially availableprocessors, such a single core processor, a multi-core processor, or anyother suitable arrangement of processors. The system bus 1108 can be anyof several types of bus structure that can further interconnect to amemory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, anda local bus using any of a variety of commercially available busarchitectures. The system memory 1106 can include read-only memory(ROM), random access memory (RAM), high-speed RAM (such as static RAM),EPROM, EEPROM, and/or the like. Additionally or alternatively, thecomputer 1102 can include a hard disk drive, upon which programinstructions, data, and the like can be retained. Moreover, removabledata storage can be associated with the computer 1102. Hard disk drives,removable media, etc. can be communicatively coupled to the processingunit 1104 by way of the system bus 1108.

The system memory 1106 can retain a number of program modules, such asan operating system, one or more application programs, other programmodules, and program data. All or portions of an operating system,applications, modules, and/or data can be, for instance, cached in RAM,retained upon a hard disk drive, or any other suitable location. A usercan enter commands and information into the computer 1102 through one ormore wired/wireless input devices, such as a keyboard, pointing andclicking mechanism, pressure sensitive screen, microphone, joystick,stylus pen, etc. A monitor or other type of interface can also beconnected to the system bus 1108.

The computer 1102 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, phones, or other computing devices, such asworkstations, server computers, routers, personal computers, portablecomputers, microprocessor-based entertainment appliances, peer devicesor other common network nodes, etc. The computer 1102 can connect toother devices/networks by way of antenna, port, network interfaceadaptor, wireless access point, modem, and/or the like.

The computer 1102 is operable to communicate with any suitable wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, restroom), and telephone. This includes at least WiFi andBluetooth™ wireless technologies. Thus, the communication can be apredefined structure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoccommunication between at least two devices.

WiFi, or Wireless Fidelity, allows connection to other devices,including a data network such as the Internet, without wires. WiFi is awireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enablessuch devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out,anywhere within the range of a base station. WiFi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, etc.) to provide secure,reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A WiFi network can be used toconnect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wired networks(which use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). WiFi networks operate in theunlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, at an 11 Mbps (802.11a) or 54 Mbps(802.11b) data rate, for example, or with products that contain bothbands (dual band), so the networks can provide real-world performancesimilar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernet networks used in manyoffices.

What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subjectmatter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivablecombination of components or methodologies for purposes of describingthe claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art canrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of such matterare possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended toembrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fallwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to theextent that the term “includes” is used in either the detaileddescription or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpretedwhen employed as a transitional word in a claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a memory to storeinstructions; and a processor coupled to the memory that facilitatesexecution of the instructions to perform operations, comprising:receiving a request to allocate a call to a carrier device of a wirelesscarrier; assigning the call to an end portion of a code tree assigned tothe wireless carrier based at least in part on a characteristic of thecall, wherein the code tree has a first end portion and a second endportion; and maintaining un-assigned blocks in a portion of the codetree between the first end portion and the second end portion.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise shifting thecall from the end portion of the code tree to which the call is assignedto another portion of the code tree.
 3. The system of claim 2, whereinshifting the call comprises selecting between a hard intra-carrier shiftand a soft intra-carrier shift based on the characteristic of the call.4. The system of claim 3, wherein the operations further comprise, inresponse to selecting the hard intra-carrier shift, opening the secondportion, copying information associated with the call from the endportion to which the call is assigned to the other portion, and closingthe end portion.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise assigning data traffic classified as best efforttraffic to the portion of the code tree between the first end and thesecond end.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the operations furthercomprise dynamically sharing bandwidth associated with the data trafficclassified as best effort traffic with the call assigned to the endportion.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise sub dividing the code tree into a set of portions, wherein theportions of the set are respectively configured to serve differenttraffic having respectively different characteristics.
 8. A method,comprising: receiving, by a system comprising a processor, a request toallocate a call to a network device of a wireless carrier; assigning, bythe system, the call to an end portion of a code tree assigned to thewireless carrier based at least in part on a characteristic of the call,wherein the code tree has a first end portion and a second end portion;and maintaining, by the system, un-assigned blocks in a portion of thecode tree between the first end portion and the second end portion. 9.The method of claim 8, further comprising shifting, by the system, thecall from the end portion of the code tree to which the call is assignedto another portion of the code tree.
 10. The method of claim 9, whereinshifting the call comprises selecting between a hard intra-carrier shiftand a soft intra-carrier shift based on the characteristic of the call.11. The method of claim 10, further comprising, in response to selectingthe hard intra-carrier shift, opening, by the system, the secondportion, copying, by the system, information associated with the callfrom the end portion to the other portion, and closing, by the system,the end portion.
 12. The method of claim 8, further comprisingassigning, by the system, data traffic categorized as best efforttraffic to the portion of the code tree between the first end and thesecond end.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising dynamicallysharing, by the system, bandwidth associated with the data traffic withthe call assigned to the end portion.
 14. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising sub dividing, by the system, the code tree into a set ofportions configured to serve respective traffic respectively having adifferent characteristic.
 15. A computer-readable storage device havinginstructions stored thereon that, in response to execution, cause asystem comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:receiving a request to allocate a call to a device of a wirelesscarrier; assigning the call to an end portion of a code tree assigned tothe wireless carrier based at least in part on a characteristic of thecall, wherein the code tree has a first end portion and a second endportion; and maintaining un-assigned blocks in a portion of the codetree between the first end portion and the second end portion.
 16. Thecomputer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the operationsfurther comprise shifting the call from the end portion of the code treeto another portion of the code tree.
 17. The computer-readable storagedevice of claim 16, wherein shifting the call comprises selectingbetween a hard intra-carrier shift and a soft intra-carrier shift basedon the characteristic of the call.
 18. The computer-readable storagedevice of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise, in responseto selecting the hard intra-carrier shift, opening the second portion,copying information associated with the call from the end portion to theother portion, and closing the end portion.
 19. The computer-readablestorage device of claim 15, wherein the operations further compriseassigning best effort data traffic to the portion of the code treebetween the first end and the second end.
 20. The computer-readablestorage device of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprisedynamically sharing bandwidth associated with the best effort datatraffic with the call assigned to the end portion.